Record 89 LEVC TXe taxis sold in one week as zero deposit deal appeals to drivers
LTDA’s: The cab you drive
The doom and gloom merchants might want to look away now, but the interest free deal at Brewery Road has led to record sales figures. A total of 89 TXes were sold in one week: an all-time record, unbeaten even in the heyday of the TX1s! This means that many drivers are still making long term plans despite the uncertainty in the trade. In the first two weeks of March LEVC took 161 orders. The company also says that 16 of the orders are from drivers who are using cash raised from the delicensing scheme to fund a new cab. However, the advent of the decommissioning scheme has thrown yet another spanner in the works for the used cab market. An estimated 1,500 owners, fleets and mushers have taken advantage of the £10,000 on offer from Mayor Sadiq Khan, which has almost killed the older cab market overnight. Many of the 56/57/07/57/08/58 cabs that were fetching between £3,000-£5,000, have been delicensed for £10,000. Many of these decommissioned cabs are now appearing on eBay and elsewhere for around £2,000. This means the owners have trousered around £12,000; “a nice little earner” indeed. Unfortunately, some of these older owners who are thinking about retiring sooner rather than later and don’t fancy investing in a TXe, are all looking to snap up Euro VI cabs, and the previously ludicrously low prices of these cabs, is now on the rise. Meanwhile, Euro V cabs have been stuck in the middle. They could well be affected by a possible change in the age limit and have been squeezed price wise. The older cabs (12 Plates) have frozen in price at around the £10k mark (the decommissioning figure). The newer cabs, anything up to a 65 plate, have dropped in price, as potential buyers will only consider them if they are significantly cheaper than an equivalent 65 plate Euro VI cab, that will be unaffected by any potential age limit change. All of this is of course subject to further possible change and at a moments notice, quite how anyone is supposed to run a business in this changing landscape is a total mystery!
Image: LEVC
